Partitioned bobbin receiver for weft replenishing looms



' Se t: 30, 1947. TURNER 2,428,251

PARTITIONED BOBBIN RECEIVER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed 001'... 12, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR RICHARD a TURNER ATTORNEY Sept. 30, 1947. R. e. TURNER PARTITIONED' BOBBIN RECEIVER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 12, 1946 INVENTOR' RICHARD 6. TURNER ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 30, 1947 PARTITIONED BOBBIN RECEIVER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Richard G. Turner,

Crompton & Knowles Worcester, Mass, assignor to Loom Works, Worcester,

Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 12, 1946, Serial No. 703,074

This invention relates to improvements in weft replenishing looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide a receiver for spent bobbins so constructed as to have a high bobbin holding capacity.

Heretofore I have proposed a bobbin receiver having a cloth bag suspended from a frame extending vertically alon the bag and removable from the loom to permit emptying of the bobbins. That receiver has a single bobbin compartment and the bobbins in it assume a great variety of positions which prevent the receiver from holding the maximum number of bobbins which it could hold if they were arranged more or less in alignment with each other. It is an important object of my present invention to provide the cloth ba with a partition dividing the bag into bobbin compartments each having a horizontal dimension in one direction less than the length of the bobbins and having another horizontal dimension at right angles to the first dimension equal to or greater than the length of the bobbin. I have found that when the cloth bag is constructed with such a partition the bobbins arrangethemselves in orderly manner within the compartments, thereby increasing the number of bobbins which can be held by the bag.

The bobbin bag is ordinarily in front of the picking mechanism and as the bag becomes filled with bobbins it tends to bulge rearwardly into the path of the picker stick. The aforesaid partition runs back and forth between the front and back walls of the bag and not only divides the latter into compartments with advantages previously mentioned, but also prevents rearward bulging of the rear wall.

While bobbins discharged from the loom generally follow a forwardly and downwardly directed path, tests show that they traverse a variety of such paths, these paths lying in a path zone having a horizontal dimension of several inches. It is another object of the present invention to mount the bobbin receiver on the loom in such manner that it can be adjusted so that the position of the partition can be favorably located with respect to said path zone to enable approximately the same number of bobbins to fall into each compartment, A reinforcement along the top of the partition keeps the latter straight so that the mouths of both compartments will be substantially the same size.

The bobbins are ejected from the lay with considerable force and would strike and be deflected if the partition were too high. It is still another object of the invention to have the partition so 13 Claims. (Cl. 139255) proportioned that its upper forward end is at an appreciable distance below the top of the front wall'of the receiver and preferably below at least the upper part of said path zone.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

Fig, l is a side elevation of the forward part of the loom having my improved bobbin receiver mounted thereon,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation looking in the direction of arrow 2, Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a plan view looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fg. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken in a back and forth direction through the receiver on line d--4, Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 5-5, Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged front elevation of the bobbin chute on the lay which directs the ejected bobbins toward the bobbin receiver, looking in the direction of arrow 6, Fig. 1,

Fig. 7 is a vertical section on line 'I--I, Fig, 6,

Fig. 8 is a diagonal section on line 8-8, Fig. 6,

Fig. 9 is an enlarged plan view on line 9-8, Fig. l, of the bobbin receiver showing bobbins in the compartments thereof, and

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view looking toward the front wall of the receiver and showing the relation of the partition with respect to the path zone of the ejected bobbins.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a loom frame l5 having a lay I6 provided with a shuttle box H to receive a shuttle S. A reserve bobbin magazine not shown in detail herein has a supporting foot l8 secured to the upper forward part of the loom frame and provided with a relatively large stud l9 extending horizontally and parallel to the lay for the purpose of mounting the transferrer arm not shown.

The lay is provided with a downwardly and forwardly inclined bobbin chute 20 located below the shuttle box I1 and having attached to the lower end thereof a bobbin deflector 21 which is concave forwardly and secured to the chute 20 in position to deflect bobbins descending from the shuttle box in a downward and forward direction. Referring more particularly to Fig. 6, the chute 20 may be provided at the left side thereof with a flange 22 to engage the butt 23 of the expelled bobbin B. A narrow butt guide 24 may be secured to the chute 20 and extend from the chute downwardly along part of the deflector 2|.

During replenishing operation of the loom the lay is in its extreme forward or left position, as shown in Fig. 1, and the expelled bobbins are pushed out of the shuttle S and forced downwardly along the bobbin chute and deflector.

Picking mechanism for the shuttle includes a tice.

The bobbin receiver designated generally at R comprises a frame, a cloth bag, and supporting structure for the frame to hold the bag in position to receive discharged bobbins. The frame 25 has right and left side members 26 and 21 joined by a bottom 28. The upper ends of the side members extend rearwardly and downwardly to form bag supporting arms 29. Two spaced cross bars 30 join theupper ends of the-side members 26 and 21 and are received by slotted supports 32 and 33 spaced horizontally on a bracket 34. The latter is secured as at 35 to a hanger 36 supported by an extension of stud l9 and is held in angularly and horizontally adjusted position by set screws 37.

Th receiver includes a cloth bag 40 having front and back walls 4| and 42 and outer and inner side walls 43 and 44. The bag may be made of any desirable flexible cloth and is supported by attachment 45 from arms 29 and the upper forward part of frame 25. The bag has an upwardly opening mouth designated at M, Fig. 3, to receive the discharged bobbins. This mouth lies between the arms 29 and behind the cross bars 30 and preferably is inclined downwardly and rearwardly as suggested in Figs. 1 and 4. An upwardly opening pocket 46 may be secured to the lower part of front wall 4| to receive the bottoms of the side members 26 and 21 and also the bottom cross bar 28. This pocket prevents the collapse of the bag with respect to the frame 2-5 when the receiver is removed from the loom for the purpose of emptying the bobbins.

That part of the receiver thus far described may be as set forth in my copending application Serial No. 657,273, filed March 26, 1946.

The bag shown in the aforesaid application has in practice been made somewhat wider and longer than the length of a bobbin with the result that the bobbins are likely to become obliquely arranged and not make eflioient use of the space within the bag. My present invention contemplates the more efficient use of the space Within the bag, and to this end I provide a' partition designated generally at 50 which may be made of cloth and having its forward edge secured as at to the front wall 4| of the bag and have its rear edge similarly secured as at 52 to the rear wall 42. This partition is also secured to the floor 53 of the bag as at 54. Extending along the upper edge of the partition is a reinforcing bar 55 Which may be of wire orsimilar material held in place by a fold 56.

The partition divides the lower part of the bag into two substantially similar compartments 5'! and '58 located respectively at the right and left of the receiver as viewed from the front of the loom. The bag is so proportioned that each compartment has a back and forth length equal at least to the length of a bobbin, but its lateral dimension is less than the length of a bobbin. Thus, the

a cloth bag in order bin and is secured to the ,which'is forward of the distance between the partltlonlill and either the outer or the inner side walls 43 or 44 will be less than the length of a bobbin, but the distance between the front and back walls 4| and 42 will be preferably somewhat greater than the length of a bobbin. The bag need not necessarily have vertical and parallel opposite walls, and may if desired taper slightly, but the proportions already mentioned will apply generally to the compartments. It is not necessary that the receiver have to possess the advantages growing out of the relation between the lengh of the bobbin and the dimensions of the compartment.

The receiver has its front wall extending to a point considerably above the topof the back wall, and the top of the partition may be severa1 inches below the top of the front wall, so that the tops of the compartments merge into the mouth M which is not divided by the partition.

As already mentioned the bobbins do not always follow exactly the same path when ejected from the lay, but show some variation due to conditions of shuttle boxing and bobbin holding. by the shuttle. If a shuttle is deeply boxed due to wearing of a picker and the bobbin is held by only one ring at th outer ends of the bobbin clip springs not shown the bobbin Will then start down from a position relatively near the outer end of the lay. If on the other hand the bobbin should have all of its rings held by the shuttle clip and the latter should have rebounded toward the center of the loom, the bobbin will be in the position relatively far from the outer end of the blade. Because of the various positions which the bobbins can occupy when being expelled they traverse a variety of paths all of which however are found to come within a more or less restricted zone.

Fig. 10 shows diagrammatically the total range of the path zone, and also sub zones depending upon different positions from which a bobbin may be ejected. Thus, the vertical lines a and b indicatethe lateral limits of the path zone, while lines a and 0 represent a sub zone to the right and lines D and c a second subzone to the left. A bobbin ejected so that it strikes the front wall in sub zone ac is likely to fall into the compartment 58, while a bobbin entering sub zone bc is likely to fall into compartment 51. A bobbin which happens to strike th front wall of the bag along line 0 may fall into either of the compartments. The adjustment of the receiver by means of the set screws 31 permits the bag and its holding frame to be moved to such position that the partition 50 will be most favorably located with respect to the sub zones to enable the compartments 51 and 58 to fill up more or less uniformly.

The bobbin deflector 2| may if desired be provided with a bobbin tip guide designated generally at and indicated in Figs. 2, 6 and 7. This guide is preferably made of some material such as wood which will not injure the tip of the bob concave deflector 2| as at 66. The guide 65 has a downwardly and forwardly inclined substantially straight surface 61 surface of the deflector 2| between its ends, see Fig. 7, but approaches the bobbin engaging surface of the deflector at its upper and lower ends.

During descent of a bobbin the tip thereof will follow a more or less straight path as determined by the surface 61, but the butt of the bobbin will move down the concave deflector 2| and will be directed forwardly ata greater rate than the tip as the bobbin approaches the bottom of the defiector 21. As the bobbin leaves the deflector therefore its butt moves forwardly at a greater rate than does its tip, and the butt will strike the front wall 4| of the bag ahead of the tip and somewhere within the aforesaid path zone.

The path zone will have a vertical dimension the upper limit of which will be below the top of the front wall 4| and'the lower limit of which is preferably approximately at the level of the top of the partition 50. It is desirable that the ejected bobbins strike the front wall of the bag before they strike the partition, since they might otherwise be deflected out of the bag, or their distribution in the compartments 51 and 58 be unequal.

The previously mentioned strip 24 cooperates with the flange 22 to provide a guideway for the butt of the bobbin. This strip 24 has been used for a number of years and has not been claimed herein, but I believe the tip guide 65 performs a novel function.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided simple means for increasing the bobbin carrying capacity of a bobbin receiver by the simple expedient of providing the same with a vertical partition running back and forth between the front and back walls and dividing the bag into compartments each having a back and forth length equal at least to the length of the bobbin but having a lateral dimension substantially less than the length of the bobbin. Because of these proportions of the compartments the bobbins tend to arrange themselves as shown in Fig. 9, stacking themselves upon each other and making efficient use of the available space within the compartments fortheir storage. This advantage is independent of the material of which the receiver is made, but when a cloth bag is used the partition prevents rearward bulging of the back wall of the bag toward the path of the picker stick P. Also, the receiver can be adjusted horizontally with respect to the path zone of the ejected bobbins so that the partition 50 will be so located as to effect a substantially uniform distribution of expelled bobbins in the two compartments. The reinforcement effected by the rod 55 tends to keep the top of the partition straight to prevent it from being deflected one way or the other by a bobbin which might happen to become displaced. Such displacement of the top of the wall might cause one compartment to have a larger mouth than the other and therefore receive a disproportionately large number of bobbins. The reinforcement assures that both compartments will have mouths of about the same size. Furthermore, the bobbin tip guide 65 together with the concave deflector 2! has the effect of projecting the butt of the bobbin forwardly at a faster rate than that of the tip so that the butt will strike the front wall of the bag walls, spaced side walls, and a bottom connected first and by its location determine into which of will fall. The top the the compartments 5'! and 58 it of partition 50 is preferably no higher than bottom of the path zone. 1

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be, made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. A receiver for spent bobbins of a given length discharged from a loom during weft replenishing operations thereof, said receiver in-' cluding a flexible bag having front and back to said walls, and a vertical partition extending upwardly from the bottom and connecting the front and back walls and terminating at its upper front end at a point below the top of the front wall, said partition dividing the bag into two bobbin compartments below the top of the front wall, said walls of the bag and partition being so proportioned that each compartment measured parallel to the front wall is narrower than the length of a bobbin, and each compartment measured parallel to a side wall is at least as longas 9. bobbin.

2. A receiver for spent bobbins of a .given length discharged from a loom during weft replenishing operations thereof, said receiver including a flexible bag having front and back walls, spaced side walls, and a bottom connected to said walls, and a flexible vertical partition secured to said bottom and extending upwardly therefrom and connecting the front and back walls and terminating at its upper front end at a point below the top of the front wall, said partition dividing the bag into two elongated bobbin compartments parallel to the side walls, each compartment having a length equal at least to the length of a bobbin, and each compartment having a width less than the length of a bobbin.

3. A receiver for spent bobbins of a given length discharged from a loom during weft replenishingoperations thereof, said receiver including a flexible bag having front and back walls, spaced side walls, and a bottom connected to said walls, and a vertical partition extending upwardly from the bottom and connecting the front and back walls and terminating at its upper front end at a point below the top of the front wall, said partition dividing the bag into two elongated bobbin compartments parallel to the side walls, each compartment having a length equal at least to the length of a bobbin, and each compartment having a width less than the length of a bobbin.

4. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay from which a bobbin of given length expelled during a replenishing operation traverses any one of a plurality of horizontally spaced paths, a bobbin receiver in front of the lay having front and back walls and also side walls, and a vertical partition connecting the front and back walls having the forward upper end thereof below the top of the front wall and horizontally intermediate said paths, said partition dividing the receiver into two compartments each having a back and forth dimension equal at least to the length of a bobbin, and each having a lateral dimension less than the length of a bobbin.

5. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay from which a bobbin of given length expelled durin a replenishing operation traverses any one of a plurality of horizontally spaced paths located in a path zone, a bobbin receiver in front of the lay having front and back walls and also side walls, and a vertical partition extending back and forth between the front and backwalls and having the upper forward end thereof below the top of the front wall and intermediate the horizontal limits of said path zone, said partition dividing the receiver into two parallelg'elongated compartments each having a back and forth dimension at least as long as a bobbin and having a lateral dimension less than the length of a bobbin.

6. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay from which a bobbin of given length expelled during a replenishing operation traverses any the back and forth dimension of which is equal at least to the length of a bobbin and the lateral dimension of which is less than the length of abobbin, and means on the loom supporting the receiver with the front of the partition intermediate the horizontal limits of the path zone.

7. A receiver for spent bobbins discharged from a loom during weft replenishing operations thereof, said receiver including a cloth bag having front and back and side walls, a cloth partition connecting the front and back walls and having the upper forward end thereof located below the top of the front wall, and reinforcing means extending along the upper part of said partition to hold the top part of the latter substantially straight.

8. A receiver for spent bobbins discharged from a loom during weft replenishing operations thereof, said receiver having front and back and side walls and an upwardly opening bobbin receiving mouth, and a partition secured to and extending back and forth between the front and back walls and dividing the receiver into two bobbin compartments each having a bobbin receiving mouth below the mouth of the receiver.

9. A receiver for spent bobbins discharged from a loom during weft replenishing operations thereof, said receiver including a cloth bag having front and back and side walls and an upwardly opening bobbin receiving mouth, a partition secured to and extending back and forth between the front and back walls and dividing the receiver into two bobbin compartments each having a bobbin receiving mouth below the mouth of the receiver, and reinforcing means along the upper part of the partition to keep said part substantially straight.

10. In a receiver for spent bobbins of a given length discharged from a loom during weft replenishing operations, said receiver having front and back and side walls, and a partition secured to and extending back and forth between the front and back walls and dividing the receiver into two bobbin compartments each having a horizontal back and forth dimension greater than the horizontal lateral dimension thereof, the back and forth dimension being at least equal to the length of the bobbins and the lateral dimension being less than the length of the bobbin.

11. In a weft replenishing loom in which depleted bobbins each having a butt and a tip are discharged downwardly from the shuttle box toward a bobbin receiver, a bobbin chute under the shuttle box constructed to cause the butt of a discharged bobbin to move forwardly at a rate faster than the rate at which the bobbin tip moves forwardly, and a partition in the bobbin receiver dividing the latter into two compartments each of which has a back and forth dimension equal at least to the length of a discharged bobbin and each of which has a lateral dimension less than the length of the bobbin, said chute causing the bobbin butts to travel within a path zone part of which is at one side of said partition and part of which is at the opposite side 'of the partition.

12. In a weft replenishing loom in which depleted bobbins are expelled from a shuttle box during a weft replenishing operation, a bobbin chute under the shuttle box constructed to cause the butt of a discharged bobbin to move along a forward path at a rate greater than the rate at which the tip of the bobbin moves, a bobbin receiver having a front wall in the path of the bobbin, and a partition extending baokwardly and forwardl within the receiver dividing the latter into bobbin compartments each having a front and back horizontal dimension greater than the length of a discharged bobbin and each having a horizontal lateral dimension less than the length of a discharged bobbin.

13. In a weft replenishing loom having a transferrer arm effective to discharge a depleted bobbin downwardly froma shuttle box, a bobbin chute under the shuttle box constructed to defiect a discharged bobbin in a forward direction and cause the butt of the bobbin to move forwardly at a greater rate than the rate at which the tip moves forwardly when the bobbin leavesthe chute, the transferrer arm and chute causing the bobbin to traverse a laterally extending path zone, a bobbin receiver having a vertical partition extending backwardly and forwardly therein and dividing the receiver into two compartments each having a back and forth length equal at least to the length of the bobbin and each having a. lateral width less than the length of the bobbin, and means mounting the receiver on the loom with the partition so related with respect to said path zone that a bobbin the butt of which travels along one side of said path zone will tend to fall into one of said compartments, and a bobbin the butt of which travels along the other side of the path zone will tend to fall into the other compartment.

RICHARD G. TURNER. 

